Method and apparatus fob dupli



April 9, 1935. TUTTLE 1,997,325

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DUPLICATING GOFFERED FILM Filed Feb. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DUPLI- CATING GOFFERED FILM Fordyce Tuttle, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 14, 1933, Serial No. 656,685

11 Claims. (CI. 88-24) My present invention relates to photographic ly one suitable arrangement whereby my invenprinting and more particularly to the copying tion may be practiced, the invention in the inor duplicating of goflered film by projection stance shown being adapted for printing at a one printing. to one ratio; Fig 2 shows one type of shutter dia- In the printing of color pictures on goffered phragm which may be used; Fig. 3 is a sectional 5 or lenticular film it has been difiicult to obtain side elevation of an apparatus for effecting the prints of satisfactory definition and good color printing of a series of pictures; and Fig. 4 shows rendition due to color wedging and lack of color an alternative form of shutter which may be used separation. As a consequence of my invention for selectively masking the light source.

gofiered film may be duplicated at a one to one Referring to the drawing I have shown an 10 ratio or the copy may be larger or smaller than original film l0, provided with any well known the original without degrading the color saturatype of gofiering which may comprise transtion due to color splashing and fiare introduced verse cylindrical lenticulations H, and having by the many surfaces of the printing objective. a developed image layer l2 comprising a plu- In the present instance instead of printing all rality of minute color separation images as is 15 of the color separation images simultaneously I well understood. A copy film |3 upon which it print them separately and successively. By is desired to reproduce the film I0 is also proprinting in this manner, only the part of the vided with transverse cylindrical lenticulations light desired for printing is permitted to pass l4 and has a sensitized layer IS. The two films 2 through the objective and the fogging effect of IO and I3 are spaced on either side of a printthe flare introduced by the objective is greatly ing objective IS with their embossed sides facreduced with a consequent reduction in the loss ing the light source which as shown comprises of color saturation. The embossed sides of both three separate sources l8 and I9. A masking films face the incident light and, in printing, member or shutter diaphragm 20 which may be each color portion on the original film is sucan apertured disk as shown in Fig. 2 is placed in 5 cessively illuminated by a source of light which front of the three light sources H, 8 and 9 is made to appear in the position occupied by while a similar masking member 2| is posithe corresponding color filter in taking and tioned in the printing objective l6. It will be simultaneously therewith the light projected understood that the conventionalized objective '30 onto the sensitive film is restricted to correspond- "5 will in pra ti p se a sp ial i ctve ing portions of the sensitive film by permitting the of two components each having a plurality of light to pass through only the corresponding part lenses which is well known to those skilled in this of the objective. Since each color separation imart. The two masking members '20 and 2| are age is printed separately, the apparent angle subp e a y Connected together y e n tended by the filter areas may readily be kept mounted on a common shaft 22 so that when the the same in the print as in the taking and this light sources ll, l8 and I9 are successively unis true when the printing is done on an altered masked by the member 20 the corresponding scale as well as when printing one to one. Also, portions of the objective IE will be unmasked by because of the independence of the apertures the member 2|. As best shown in Fig. 2, the 40 subtended in taking and in the printed film, a members 20 and 2| are provided with three 40 relatively small aperture may be used in taking arcuate slots, R, G and B and r, g and b reand the printing done with the required large spectively which are radially and angularly aperture. This arrangement further permits spaced so'that they will be in optical alinement control of the color ratio in printing thereby when placed in the printer. Asshown, the three making it unnecessary to adjust this ratio by slots for printing the usual three color separa- 45 cutting out some of the light when projecting on tion images in succession occupy only an angua screen. -lar space of 180 degrees on the members 20 and The novel features which I believe to be char- 2|. This arrangement permits the members 20 acteristic of my invention are set forth with and 2| to be rotated continuously since all three particularity in the appended claims. My inlight sources are masked for a time during which 50 vention itself, however, both as to its organizathe films l0 and I3 may be advanced, by any tion and method of operation will best be unsuitable mechanism, to bring another frame inderstood by reference to the following descripto printing position. tion taken in connection with the accompanying It is of course obvious that the selective mask drawing in which Fig. 1 shows diagrammaticaling of the light sources and the corresponding portions of the printing objective may be accomplished by means of hand operated masks or any other suitable means.

Inv the operation of the printer asdescribed when the members 20 and 2| are moved to the position shown in Fig. l the apertures or slots R and .R will permit light rays from the source II to pass through one of the color separation images on the original film ID, the corresponding portion of the objective I6 and upon the copy film I3. In order that the incident light will illuminate similar areas of the image layer I2 behind each embossed lens II of the original film I0 a collimating lens 23 may be interposed to cause the light source I1 to appear at infinity as viewed from the film III. This parallel light transmitted by the lens 23 will be focused by the cylindrical lens element II in a narrow band behind each element II and on the image layer I2 and due to the angularity of the incident light these bands of light will illuminate one of the off axis color separation images which may be the red, as indicated and as is well understood. A second collimating lens 24 positioned behind the film I0 serves to direct the light transmitted by the illuminated color separation images toward the objective I6 which is unmasked by the slot R in the member 2 I. As is well understood, the light passed by the unmasked portion of the objective I6 will be imaged by the cylindrical lenses I4 on the sensitized layer I5 in the form of a plurality of bands each of which occupies a third of the area behind each of the lens elements I4. In order to locate these image bands on the copy film I3 so that they will occupy the proper positions relative to the filter to be used in projection a suitable compensating lens 25 may be placed in front of the copy film I3.

After printing an off axis color image which has been assumed to be the red, the center color separation image, usually the green, may be printed by moving the members 20 and 2| so that the slots G and y will unmask the center light source I8 and the center portion of the objective I6. As was the case in printing the red images, the green images on the original film will alone be illuminated and the slot g near the objective will restrict the light to the center portions of the sensitive layer I5 behind each lens element I4. The third or blue separation image may then be printed as was the red by unmasking the light source I9 and the corresponding portion of the objective I 6. After printing all three color components of a frame as above described and with all three light sources masked by the blank portion of the member 20 the two films I0 and I3 may be advanced in any well known manner to bring another frame into position to be printed as above described. It will be obvious that the 411m advancing means may be synchronized with the rotating members 20 and 2| to provide a continuously operating mechanism for printing the film frame by frame and one suitable arrangement will now be described In the apparatus shown in Fig. 3, the negative film ID from a supply reel 30 is trained over a guide roll 3|, through gate elements 32 containing windows 33, and over a guide roll 34 to a take-up reel 35. The film I 3 upon which the film I0 is to be printedis carried from a supply reel 36, over a guide roll 31, through gate elements 38 containing windows 39, and over a guide roll 40 to a take-up reel 4|. Each of the two films I0 and I3 are drawn past the printing windows 33 and 39 by any ordinary intermittent feeding mechanism, which briefly includes a power shaft 42 provided with a gear 43 meshing with a gear 44, which in turn drives a crank arm 45 connected to a bar 46 having a claw 41 which engages the perforations in the film, as is well known. The shaft 42 may be driven in any suitable manner, as by a belt and pulley 48 driven from a motor 49.

The shutters 20 and 2I operate synchronously with the feeding mechanisms of the two films to expose them while they are at rest, these shutters being driven in any suitable way, as by gears 50, 5| through a short vertical shaft 52 driven through gears 53, 54 by the shaft 42, which, as noted above, also drives the film feeding mechanisms.

Instead of utilizing three separate light sources as shown in Fig. l, the illuminating system shown in Fig. 3 employs a single lamp I the light from which is concentrated on a ground glass 8 by a condenser 9. The ground glass 8 in this arrangement constitutes a secondary source of light which serves efiectively the purpose served by the three separate sources I1, I8 and I9 above described.

In Fig. 4 I have shown an alternative form of masking member which may be used instead of the disks 20 and 2|. In this arrangement a plate 60 provided with three ofiset slots R, G and B is mounted to be reciprocated in slide ways 6|. Reciprocatory movement may be imparted to the plate 60 by means of a crank arm 62 and a connecting rod 63. The crank arm 62 is carried by a shaft 64 which is suitably connected to be driven from the main shaft 42. It is to be understood that a masking member similar to this one but with the slots arranged in reverse order verse lenticulations onto film provided with longitudinal lenticulations or vice versa, it is necessary only to arrange the masking members so that the slots therein extend in a direction parallel to the lenticulations on the corresponding film. In the case of reciprocating mask shown in Fig. 4, this can readily be accomplished by mounting it to reciprocate in a direction parallel to the lenticulations on the film it is used to selectively unmask. In order to unmask properly a longitudinally embossed film with a slotted rotary shutter, the shutter is mounted so that a line passing through its center of rotation and the optical axis of the printer is perpendicular to the lenticulations on the film, which is, of course, the same relation used in connection with transversely lenticulated film. In any event, the proper orientation between either film and its corresponding masking member may be obtained by choosing either the position of the masking member or the direction of travel of the film and then locating the other to satisfy the conditions outlined above.

Thus far my invention has been described as applied to printing at a one to one ratio. However, the method involved enables the carrying out of a printing operation on either an enlarged tion each color component image is printed separately and the angle of the filters in taking the original is independent of the angle of the filters in projecting the copy film. This being true, all that is necessary to print on an enlarged or reduced scale is to change the ratio of the object and image distances i. e. the magnification of the rear component of the objective l6. Also, since in practicing my invention the filter angles in taking do not necessariy correspond to the angles of the filters in projection, it is possible with the aid of my invention to take the original film with a lens of small aperture such as f.4 and to project the copy film with a lens of larger aperture such as f.2. This is very advantageous in that it is diflicult to obtain short focal length large aperture lenses for taking which fulfill the condition of lenticular film i. e. all parts of the lens are visible from all parts of the frame on the film, while it is relatively simple to obtain long focal length lenses of large aperture for projection purposes. 7

Another advantage arising from the independence of the apertures subtended in taking and in projecting the printed film is that the color ratio may be corrected in the printer thereby making it unnecessary to cut out part of the light to adjust this ratio when projecting on a screen.

For the purpose of explaining my invention in detail, I have described it as applied to the printing of gofiered film bearing three color separation images. However, it is obviously'equally applicable to the printing of gofiered film bearing two separated images and these images may correspond to two stereoscopic views as well as to separation images of a two color process. In fact my invention contemplates the duplication of a goffered'film regardless of the nature of the image or images carried thereby. Various modifications of my invention will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An optical system for duplicating lenticular film bearing separation images on lenticular film in which the lenticulations of both films face the incident light comprising a source of light and an objective disposed on opposite sides of the original film to be duplicated, means for selectively unmasking portions of the light incident on the original film to illuminate successively each separation image thereon and means associated with the objective for restricting the light transmitted thereby to the portion of the sensitive layer on the copy film corresponding to the illuminated portion of the image layer on the original film.

2. Means for printing ,by projection and on an altered scale pictures on a gofiered film from a gofiered original film in which the goifering of each film faces the incident light, said means comprising means for illuminating separately the central portion only of each component image on the original film, an objective for imaging on the desired scale on the sensitive film the picture carried by the original film and means associated with-the objective for limiting the light reaching image on the original film, projecting an image of the original film onto the sensitive film using only the portions of the fields of the lenticulations on the sensitive film corresponding to the colorseparation images being printed.

4. The method of duplicating color pictures on lenticular film by projection printing on sensitive lenticular film which comprises illuminating the embossed side of the original film with light coming successively from each of the apparent positions occupied by the color filters used in taking and simultaneously therewith restricting the light projected onto the sensitive film to the apparent positions to be occupied by corresponding color filters in projecting the copy film.

5. The method of copying photographic film having a goifering composed of parallel retracting elements which comprises arranging the goffered original film and a similarly goffered sensitive film on opposite sides of a printing objective and with their gofierings facing in the same direction, illuminating the gofifered' side of the original film with light incident thereon successively at the same apparent angles occupied by the several color filters used in taking and projecting an image of the original film onto the sensitive film each time the original film is illuminated using only that portion of the light coming from the apparent positions to be occupied by the respective color bands in projection.

6. In the art of color photography involving photographic elements provided with minute refracting lens elements and used in conjunction with polychromatic filters, the method of printing comprising separately and successively illuminating through the embossed side of the original each color separation image thereon and simultaneously therewith restricting the light trans-- mitted to the copy film to the corresponding portions of the area behind each lens element on the copy film.

7. An apparatus adapted for copying goiiered motion picture films comprising a source of light for illuminating the original film through its support and an objective for imaging on the sensitive film and through its support the picture on the original film, masking means in front of the light source and adapted upon rotation to restrict successively and separately the illumination to each component image on the original film, masking means associated with the objective and adapted upon rotation to restrict the light falling on the sensitive layer of the sensitive film to each portion thereof corresponding to the component! image illuminated, and means for rotating both of said masking means in synchronism.

8. An apparatus adapted for copying goflered motion picture films including a light source and an objective, means for supporting the original film between the light source and the objective and means for supporting the sensitive film behind the objective, means for feeding the original and sensitive films step by step through the supporting means and with their goiIered surfaces facing the incident light, and means operated in synchronism with the film feeding means for masking the light source during the time the films are in motion and adapted to unmask selectively and separately certain portions of the light source during the time thefilms are at rest.

9. An apparatus adapted for copying by projection an original goffered film onto a sensitive goifered film in which the gofl'ered surface of each film faces the incident light including a source of light, means for supporting and feeding the original film in front of the light source, movable shutter means adapted to pass light rays from the source to each of the separation images on the original film in succession, means for supporting and feeding the sensitive gofi'ered film, an objective for imaging the original film on said sensitive'film, movable shutter means associated with the objective for restricting the light falling on the sensitive film to the portions thereof corresponding to the separation images illuminated on the original film, and driving means for operating both of said shutter means and said film feeding means in timed relation.

10. An apparatus adapted for copying by projection an original gofiered film onto a'sensitive gofiered film in which the gofiered surface of each film faces the incident light, a symmetrical objective between the two films, a rotatable shutter diaphragm located between the two parts of the objective, a light source, a rotatable shutter diaphragm between said source and the original film, means for rotating the shutter diaphragms in synchronism, means for advancing the two films step by step, and means for operating in timed relation said shutter diaphragm rotating means and said film advancing means.

11. Projection printing apparatus for duplicating the picture carried by an original gofiered film on a gofiered film provided with a sensitive layer comprising an objective for forming an image of the picture carried by said original film, means for supporting said sensitive film in the plane of the image and with its goffering facing the objective, means for illuminating selectively and through the original film each separate color separation component of said picture whereby the image formed by said objective at any one time corresponds to a single color component, and means for restricting, selectively, the image bearing light incident on said sensitive film to the angle to be subtended at the film by any one of the filter bands used in subsequent projection of the printed film.

FORDYCE TUT'ILE 

